Latest reports on the rumour mill suggest that Saints are considering making a move for a player who is currently out on loan from Villa Park, TV footage of him at St Mary's have already appeared.

Many Southampton supporters have already seen the man who could be joining the club in January at St Mary's because according to therealefl.co.uk Finn Azaz, currently on loan at Plymouth Argyle could be joining Saints.

They report that Saints are considering an offer for Azaz and if they do then Villa are prepared to recall him from his loan spell at Plymouth and sell him on a permanent basis to Southampton or for that matter any other club who makes an offer they deem acceptable.

His current valuation is said to be about £1.5 million, which seems a bit low for a player who from the centre of the Argyle midfield has notched 7 goals and 5 assists in the Championship.

In the recent win over Plymouth Azaz played for the first 78 minutes and has started 25 of the 26 games played so far in the Championship and come on as a sub in the other 5.

This is the second season on loan at Home Park for Azaz and it seems that having turned 23 in September, Villa have decided that he wont make their first team.

He started at West Bromwich Albion in their academy, but although he played in the EFL Cup for the Baggies he didn't appear in the League, although he spent 2020/21 season out on loan with Cheltenham in League two and in the summer of 2021 joined Aston Villa, however he was immediately loaned out to Newport County for a season in League Two where he played 42 times and scored 7 goals, in Wales Saints fans got their first sighting of him when he played the first 45 minutes of our 8-0 win in the League Cup that season.

When he returned to Villa Park in the summer of 2022 he was again loaned out, this time to Plymouth Argyle with whom he starred in their promotion winning team of 2022/23 and he returned to Home Park on loan for this season.

On the face of it it looks an unlikely signing for Southampton, other than he has the stats that show he can do a job in this division, so he could be one of those signings where he will help you get out of the division, but is not going to be up to the Premier League.

However when you see that his contract at Villa is up in the summer, that perhaps suggests why his name is being linked with several clubs including Saints.

Clearly his agent is trying to tout him around and perhaps put some pressure on Plymouth to sign him on a permanent basis and even Villa trying to push his price up, at £1.5 million he looks a bargain for someone, although I would say that the price paid will probably be a couple of million more if Villa can generate a bidding war.

I would not rule out this signing, Azaz is a player with extensive experience in the EFL in all three divisions, do we have a central midfielder who has got 7 goals and 5 assists this season, the blunt answer is no, so perhaps this has more substance than it would first appear.

Photo: Action Images

Block8 added 11:58 - Jan 3 It makes a change to be linked with a player who is not a winger! There are also rumours that we are expecting at least two clubs bidding for Bednarek, hopefully not one we would consider! Might well be a case of lets see who goes before getting anyone in? Lots of questions about Che Adams future and who we get to replace him, personally I think Mara is ready for a start if Che goes but is that a risk we can afford to take? If we do feel the need to bring someone in lets try to ensure he is fit enough to play.

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WestSussexSaint added 13:16 - Jan 3 According to The Athletic Azaz is about to sign for Middlesbrough for £2.5m. If he was on Saints radar then we haven’t acted quickly enough.
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